How to Sanitize Wine Bottles
Sanitizing all equipment is the single most important thing a winemaker can do to ensure success. This includes cleaning all glass thoroughly before bottling the wine. Special bottle sanitizers can be purchased at wine-making shops, and they work just fine, but so does common household bleach. A bottle washer that attaches to the kitchen sink makes fast work of rinsing the bottles, and a dishwasher with a heat-dry setting will finish the job. Sanitize bottles shortly before bottling the wine and sealing with corks. Does this Spark an idea?
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Things You'll Need
- Chlorine laundry bleach
- Nylon bottle scrubber
- Bottle washer with threaded attachment for a sink faucet or dishwasher with heat-dry setting
Instructions
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1
Pour 1 tbsp. of bleach into each wine bottle and fill with water.
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2
Let the bottles sit with the bleach solution for one hour.
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3
Empty the bottles and scrub the inside of each with the bottle brush.
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4
Rinse the bottles using a bottle washer attached to the sink. The washer activates by placing the bottle over a brass rod and pressing the valve against the neck of the bottle to spray water inside.
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5
Set the sanitized bottles neck-down on the bottom rack of a dishwasher, using the heavy-duty cleaning cycle followed by heat drying. Do not use dishwasher detergent; just run the cycle with the bottles.
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6
Remove the bottles from the dishwasher and allow to cool before filling with wine and corking.
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Tips & Warnings
A bottle tree for storing wine bottles upside down is a useful tool that can be bought at wine shops, although placing bottles upside down in a dishwasher followed by a heat-dry cycle will accomplish the same task.
